The Story Isn't Over
by Tenchi Kai
Summary: Oh, I see. You want to know the end of my story what happened after the supposed happily ever after. That’s no problem. Just remember that I refuse be held accountable for any tears you may cry.
1. Prologue: Tears and the New Trinity Town

**The Story Isn't Over**

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**Disclaimer**: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or the characters. I wish I did, but I don't. There's no point in reading this, there really isn't ever, now, is there? Oh, come on! Just read the gosh darn story! xD.

**A/N**: I know it's been like forever since I've written something, but I'm really doing my best to make up for that. This story I'm working on here is supposed to be the one fanfiction I'm planning on finishing. Think of this story as my version of Kingdom Hearts Three from Riku's point of view. I really hope you enjoy it…all of my work from my past years is coming out right here.

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**Prologue: Tears and the New Trinity Town**  
_Riku's Point of View_

_Oh, I see. You want to know the end of my story; what happened after the supposed happily ever after. That's no problem. Just remember that I _refuse_ be held accountable for any tears you may cry…_

**I** even remember what I was wearing that day. In fact, I wore strait, silver shoulder length hair and a smirk – along with a rather plain black t-shirt with dark blue jeans equally simple in appearance. Heh. I was bare-footed, too – save for a pair of white socks. Why was that day so important? It all started when I walked to the front door of my house. Like everything else in my house, it was overly decorated with my "_rich_" parents' money – with blue and white paint, I might add.

I walked a little faster toward the door when the door bell rang for what seemed the millionth time. "Just a minute!" I yelled at the door.

When I opened the door, there stood in front of me a neglected Kairi. She was doing best to hold back tears; that much, I could tell by just looking at her. My first reflex was to wrap my arms around her. Against better judgment, I walked up to her and did just that. She started to shake lightly, but wrapped her arms around me in turn all the same. The last time she did this, she was heartbroken by Sora; I remember that like it was yesterday. They got back together soon after, though…I'm betting that isn't the problem this time.

"Kairi, what's wr-," Before I could even finish my statement, I was cut off.

"Riku…," She kept shaking, but took a breath through the tears, holding me tighter, "they're here…the heartless. Riku…they're back; and Sora – Sora's gone." Her words were filled with stutters and chokes from the tears now pouring down her face. I held her tighter, even if I wanted to cry, too.

…_So much anger…_  
…_So many disappointments…_  
…_So many fears…_  
…_but it all comes out in _tears.

"It's going to be okay, just like last time." Here I was, thinking I was healed – the truth is that I was affected more than I could realize by "_last time_". I still had nightmares. I still woke up in tears and night sweats. Every now and then, I still thought that I could hear _his_ voice clearly in the back of my mind, telling me just how bad off I truly was. I pushed the thorny thoughts away for the moment. I moved my hands from Kairi's waist to her shoulders and took a deep look in her blue eyes with my aqua green ones. "I promise."

Kairi looked back into my eyes – I knew she could tell that the words that I had to say came from the heart, but still weren't absolutely true. "Have you had any sleep?" I changed the subject as fast as I could.

"No, actually…I haven't…," Kairi spoke, and for the first time I could hear the tiredness of her voice. She was still crying, but she wasn't shaking anymore. "Riku, is everything really going to be okay?"

Like any normal person, she was looking for some reassurance. Too bad I didn't really have any…well, I can lie. "Yes, of course. We've done this before, we can do this again. We can find him, and get him back." I can't believe how well I just pulled that off. I'm probably more scared than she is…

Kairi, still in my arms, gave the strongest smile that she could muster at the time. "Can I sleep here?" I gave a small nod.

Two hours later, Kairi was asleep in my room, where I should be. She was lucky; _I_ couldn't sleep. I was outside walking around the sidewalk in my neighborhood aimlessly. My mind was spinning; rather fast actually…I had no idea how to take the news. I guess I endeavored to pretend it wasn't happening, but there wasn't time to deny what was going on. I had to find a way to get off the island, and I had to know where Sora was…and if he needed my help.

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I walked unfamiliar streets of a town that had before whispered its name to me – Trinity Town; it was a dark town, like Traverse Town that I knew so long ago, that had no sunlight – seemingly stripped of the little joy it could ever have. However, even with the lack of sunlight, the town still had a feel of comfort. Everywhere you looked, there was a form of artificial sunlight. When you were outside, it was usually in the form of skinny, curved street lamps.

I was, to my misfortune, alone. How did I get here? Well…the stars are going out again, and the worlds are being connected…again.

Finally, I had found a shop in this small town. It was an item shop…just what I needed. I sighed and pushed open the left side of the double doors that lead into the seemingly small shop. Before I ever had the chance, I heard something behind me. As I turned around, I could almost hear is wisp around me. Whatever it was…I didn't like it.

In that moment, when I had turned back around, I saw it out of the corner of my eye. A rather large, brand new heartless; I could tell by the symbol. It remind me of the heartless I had named defender, but without the large shield. "Fine…if you want to stalk me, that's fine; just don't be as noticeable next time."

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I woke up without a blanket around me or a pillow under my head. My body finally lifted itself off of what I now identified as the living room sofa. It was very comfortable, but for some reason, I still had a headache. I only had to wonder why for a moment before my mind recalled the day before. I glanced at the digital clock that read, in bight red neon numbers, seven o'clock in the morning. I sighed. I acquired little to no sleep…

Then my thoughts jumped back to what had happened the day before, and to Kairi. I sat up and looked around blankly for a moment, and then rubbed my face with my fingers with a long sigh. Normally, I would have wondered where my parents were, but, for once, I was glad they didn't show up on time. After all, what would they think if they saw Kairi here…in _my_ bed, nonetheless?

Soon after I made a quick trip to the bathroom, I made the trip up the carpeted stairs from the living room to my room, where Kairi should have been fast asleep. I was quiet as a mouse, because I didn't want to wake her in any way, shape, fashion, or form – just check on her; sleep was a gift from the greatest powers at that point for both of us. I tuned the door knob…and what I saw…I didn't like.

That night, I had attained a nightmare…

"Damn it!" I mumbled the words harshly under my breath.

…and it came true. For the second time in my life, I let her and him both slip right though my fingers…

…She wasn't there. There, next to the bed, in her place, sat a little shadow heartless, ready to pounce on its next victim; that wasn't going to be me. I called my keyblade…

…That was about three weeks ago…

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I walked into an item shop of the town that I spoke of…it was an odd experience at best. While I expected the shop to be small in size and stock (which it was), I didn't expect to see what I saw standing there, arguing with the shop keeper: a man with a gun. He wore a dark outfit that came complete with a long red cloak; not to mention little skin that was visible was as white as paper.

I've been here for two weeks and I've never run across this guy at all. What is he - a vampire? "I guess not, sir…," The shopkeeper spoke with a newly discovered timid tone in his voice to the red clocked man.

In response, he only shook his head and turned away, to me – well not really to me, but to the exit doors. "You're new," This character had a very deep, refined voice.

To respond his words, my mouth almost opened to release the contents of my name, but before I could do so, he walked past me. Heh…nice guy. I turned to the shopkeeper. "Any potions?" That heartless was almost more than I could take, but in the end he went away in a pile of black smoke, like the rest of them…like they all will if I keep fighting.

"Sure," Whoever the shopkeeper was, he was very fearful of me by the look that was written on his face. "How many do you want?"

"Five," I said, giving a fake smile to try to ease the mood. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

He held out the potions. "Two hundred munny. I suppose."

"Who was that guy?" I took the potions from him and put the munny in the shopkeeper's hand that was made empty.

"They call him Vincent," His tone now spoke with that timid tone again. I guess he's scared of anyone that can fight. Well, I've got my best bet that the man called "Vincent" wasn't from this world. He was just too…different from the normally timid people here (not all as timid as this shopkeeper, of course) for me to believe he was from this world. I wasn't going to say that out loud, though. The shopkeeper was about to jump out of his skin as it is.

"Thanks." I spoke in a pretty blunt tone as I drank on one of the potions, which I fully hated. The slime of the potion always sticks in the back of your throat and leaves that horrid taste, too. I began to make my way of leave of the shop. If Vincent really is from another world, he may have away to get to another world…I did what anyone else would do – I went out to look for him.

I sighed when I finally made it out of the shop. I miss home already…

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	2. Chapter One: The Truth Hurts Sometimes

**The Story Isn't Over**

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**Disclaimer**: I have never owned Kingdom Hearts or any of the places I use, other than Trinity Town, that is. I enjoy writing, not getting sued, thanks. Really, that's all I've got to say.

**A/N**: Well, I got the dream idea from a friend of mine (You should know who you are! ). Well, I hope this longer chapter makes up for the crappy length of the last. Please keep reading and review, and here's a personal thank you to everyone who reviewed before. I hope that you guys continue to enjoy it. After all, it's why I wrote it. I'm planning to add in the Final Fantasy VII world, just so you know.

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**Chapter One: The Truth Hurts Sometimes**  
_Riku's Point of View_

**It** was misery; pure misery. The pain went though the center of my forehead to the back of my eye sockets with every new pulse. I was fighting what I already knew was there…not that I would ever admit to myself that it was there. In fact, if there was one thing I ever fought, it was this. If there was one thing I hated, it was _him_. As much as I hated it, _he was there_. He was back, trying to talk to me in the back of my mind, like he used to do.

…My headache? That was my head's way of struggling against my ability to _listen_ to him.

As much as it hurt physically, I did my best to not take it into account – in any way once so ever. It would hurt a lot more **_emotionally_** if I accepted that he was back. "Where _is_ this guy?" I whispered to myself. In the mean time, I was following my new found _not_ friend, Vincent, across the rather large town. In the constant night, it was kind of hard to keep up with him.

Why? Well, a) I still had reason to believe that he was from another world; and, b) I thought I heard him talking about Cloud, an old friend of Sora's, under his breath. He didn't know, of course, that I was following him at the time, but I did what I had to know who – or what, for that matter – he was. If he, indeed, knew who Cloud was, he wasn't from this world.

_You're scared to death, aren't you, Riku?_

I kept walking, but my head kept hurting worse and worse. I wasn't going to let him win this time…I shook my head and saw Vincent ahead of me by some feet; he was walking into a shop of some sort. I let out a small smirk and hid myself behind one of the many brick buildings that this town was built around. "There you are!" I whispered. It was in that moment – almost second - Vincent turned his head from opening the door to the shop and looked my way, making me hide even further behind the brick building.

_Heh. I think he heard that. You shouldn't have whispered anything._

That's when I couldn't fight it anymore – my head was about to explode. "**You** could have done any better?" I yelled the question at the top of my lungs. I remember starting to feel weak very quick, along with seeing tiny blinking lights in front of my eyes…the back of my head hitting the concrete of the street of Trinity Town was the very last thing I remember.

_Of course I could have, Riku; you're actually quite pathetic._

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_I found myself waking up on a cold floor that felt something similar to concrete. I began to hear footsteps from the boots I knew all to well. "What, Riku; I don't get a 'welcome back, master'?" Was that…sarcasm I just heard?_

_My eyes opened rather quickly and I stood up to make it appear as though I wasn't afraid. There he was- my worst enemy. I saw him perfectly for the first time in about two years; if it was forever, it still wouldn't have been long enough for my taste. I sighed and said the only words in my mind at the moment, "Of course not. You aren't my master."_

"_Oh, really now? Then, my dear boy, how did I ever get here?" Yes, that was sarcasm in his voice._

_I opened my mouth to talk back to the tall silver haired man, but nothing came. I wanted to get up and fight him with everything in me, but I couldn't even move my head. I just couldn't. Ansem - for lack of a better name – had done this to me once before; used his powers of darkness against me, that is. It was so painful, and now more so than ever before. I just blinked at him…it was all I could do._

…_I was floating in midair now._

"_That's what I thought," He smirked and walked up to me, placing my chin in his hands. I shivered at his touch. He stared right into my eyes. "Consider this your warning, Riku. Your king isn't going to save you this time." _

_He let go of me, and I instantly feel back to the floor with a harsh fall. I could almost hear him walking away, but after that moment, I saw nothing but…black. There wasn't Ansem, or even my own hands in front of my face – just the darkness of the back of my mind. It seemed to last forever…for the longest time, I thought I was trapped in the back of my own mind._

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I let out a soft, inaudible moan as I started to finally come to. I was on a bed of some sort, a pillow was under my head, and, as far as I could tell, there was a blanket placed on top of me. I opened my eyes, only to see the light from the lamp by my bed and close them again. The light actually _hurt_. I turned over in the bed that I knew wasn't mine, now laying on my stomach, and tired to go back to sleep.

"Are you okay, kid?" It was an odd voice that asked that. It was male, of course – but it wasn't the youthful male voice that I was ever so used to hearing talk to me.

I let out another small moan of pain; my head was still agonizingly pulsating. Was it all just another nightmare? My head raised from the pillow that I now knew was placed in a red pillow case. "I…guess." Then, my eyes gazed on the man that had spoken. He has blond hair and an expression that read annoyance.

"Vincent," The man spoke. My mind raced and began to remember that what he spoke was the name of the man I had been following. "This is the kid you were talking about, right?"

"Yeah," The man called Vincent spoke with seemingly little interest. I now made him out to be sixty. After that, I placed my head back down on the pillow and closed my eyes again. I wanted my head to stop hurting more than anything.

_Are you still fighting me? _I pushed my head even deeper in the pillow. _It can only last you so long; you, of all people, know that, right?_

"Any chance I could have a glass of water?" I asked out to what I hoped wasn't thin air, but still to no one in particular. As far as I could tell, no one had left the room; not that I could tell much though seeing or hearing through pillow.

"Sure." It was a blond-haired man that handed me the clear glass. He wore rather bright clothes, and was chewing on a toothpick – of all things. He looked to be around thirty or forty. I took the time to do the deed of sitting up, and it hurt my head quite a bit.

I grabbed the glass gently with my right hand and held my forehead with my left hand. "Thanks." I said quickly with a small voice. I took a few sips of the drink.

Vincent was there on the other side of the room, leaning against the wall facing across from my bed. I looked over at him, and he only looked away from me. I'm guessing he didn't know that I was following him before. I put the glass down on the wooden night stand that was next to the bed, and used my newly freed hands and wrapped my blue blanket (nothing in this room was color coordinated, by the way) closer around me, making sure I was warm; for some reason, I was abnormally cold.

"No problem. What's your name, kid?" The bond-haired mad said, now sitting in a chair next to Vincent.

I gave the man a rather questioning look, and didn't even think about giving the truth. "Thanks for helping me, but why should I trust you with my name?" The man rolled his eyes at my statement; Vincent only smirked.

_You still have trouble trusting people, don't you? _I shook my head at the voice in my head; what did he know about people and trust?

"Let me try this again," He spoke with a not-so-amused tone of voice. He stood up from his chair and walked a little bit closer to me. "My name's Cid; what's yours?"

I looked down at my blanket. I shrugged. Why not? "Riku," I spoke simply. Wait a minute – didn't Sora say something about a Cid once upon a time?

"You're _Riku_?" Cid blinked at me as he spoke, with an expression of slight surprise that clearly showed in his tone of voice when my name rolled off his tongue. Vincent looked pretty emotionless, like normal, but by the look on him face, you could tell he had heard of me, too.

"Sora's old friend – from the island, right?" Cid spoke up with a new found curiosity.

I only nodded. Sora did know Cid; looks like I remember more than I thought. Maybe he knew where Sora was…

Vincent looked at Cid, almost questioning his interest in me. "Do you know where Sora is?"

"Nope, can't say I do." I sighed. There went that idea. I grabbed my glass from the nightstand and took a big gulp this time. As I placed the glass back, my left hand found its way back to my forehead.

I learned something today; the truth hurts sometimes.

"Why were you following me, _Riku_?" Vincent finally decided to speak.


	3. Chapter Two: Kill the Messenger

**The Story Isn't Over**

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**Disclaimer**: Nope…I still don't own Kingdom Hearts. I also don't own Jack's Mannequin, who did the song _Kill the Messenger_, for which the chapter was aptly named. Why are you reading the disclaimer, anyway?

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**Chapter Two: Kill the Messenger**  
_Riku's Point of View_

"_Tell me, doctor, how to shake…a waking nightmare that is only worse when I am sleeping."_

**"****I** could tell you're from another world, that's why." I spoke, finally regaining my full strength of voice back. "I need a way out of here so I can find Sora and Kairi. I thought you might know one." The question has a rather obvious answer, and I just gave it.

Vincent didn't speak in response; instead, he just glared at me. The expression on his face could have made anyone else quiver in their shoes, but I just fidgeted a tiny little bit – I didn't say it didn't make me uncomfortable. I used my ungloved hands and grabbed the glass again, taking another big gulp and finishing the whole glass off. As I put the glass back on the nightstand, next to the small lamp, Vincent was still glaring at me. I just fidgeted a little tad more.

"Well, why didn't you say so, kid?" I looked over at Cid, who now seemed to have a quite bright expression. In his own way, he looked like he had fixed the world's problems. "I suppose you can come with us."

I blinked, and looked up at him. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He really wanted me to go with them? "I can…come with you?"

_Hmmm…that's quite interesting. It might actually be a good idea. _I shook my head mentally at this. Why would they want me to go with them? There's got to be some kind of string attached or consequence that came with the ride to another world. Remember, oh _dear_ voice in my head? You were my last sting attached, not to mention the dark power that I can still somewhat control.

"Sure, why not?" He said again. "The reason we're here is to find Sora, anyway. The heartless have been invading our planet, see…." Of course, they're looking for a hero. I guess Cid and Vincent are from the same planet.

I shook my head, physically this time. I looked at Vincent, who seemed to be rather content and to himself now. I sighed. I guess I had to get out of here on way of the other, and to one place or the other. "I don't know how much I could do, but I guess I can try to help."

_What do you really think you can do for them? You can't even help yourself._ Vincent nodded his head faintly in what appeared to be approval, and Cid's expression went back to normal look, and he kept chewing on that darn toothpick. I would have never said it out loud, but it was getting rather annoying. I looked down at my blanket again.

"We leave in the morning." Vincent finally spoke, turning towards the door to leave.

"…Okay," I spoke out, making sure he heard me before he walked out completely.

"'Night, kid. This is my place - don't trash it. I'll let you stay here tonight. I'll be back before it gets too late." Cid left right behind Vincent, giving one last protective look at his home.

He shouldn't have even wasted his breath trying to keep his "place" safe. As soon as they left, I put my head on that pillow and I went right back to sleep; I suppose I was more tired than I thought. This time, though, there weren't any nightmares that I can remember. I would have taken the time to thank God for that, but I was too out of it.

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I woke up in the dawn, before anyone was awake. The bed was placed close to a newly discovered clock that was conveniently placed on the brown painted wall, so I didn't have any trouble telling that. I just rested on my stomach and enjoyed the view of the stars, looking out a window that was placed directly above my bed. I know it made no sense, but the stars seemed to glow brighter when you wake up to them and fall asleep to them as well. However, the beauty of the dawn brought a rather troubling time; no one else was awake, so I was forced to be silent and just keep lying down.

No matter how bored I got, and, as much as I tried, I couldn't fall back to sleep. So, I just thought, and I thought quite a bit. I thought about Sora and Kairi, and where they might be. After all, Sora must have been kidnapped, but he could pretty much take care of himself. Kairi – well, I was worried about her; the image of the little shadow heartless sitting next to Kairi's bed where she should have been stayed in my head.

_I believe another star just went out. Would you _look _at that? _I took another look out the rather large window upside down again; he was right.

And then there is _that_. Well all knew he wasn't really Ansem, but he was really nothing more than Xehanort's, the real Ansem's once trusted apprentice, heartless. While I had no idea how he came back, I didn't really care about that; what I cared about we getting him out of my head. I could tell he was pulling on my consciousness, all the while trying to make it his own – just like before. The more time I took to ignore him, I knew, the stronger he was became. It was scary for me to accept, but it was the truth. I had to get rid of him.

And then, there was the fact that I was going to be going to a world I had never known. I used to be unafraid of this sort of thing, but now adventures weren't so appealing. When you're a kid, all you really want to do is have a more exciting life. Sometimes, I blamed that for my foolish action in my last adventure.

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"Are you ever going to wake up?" Vincent's harsh voice was what I woke up to. I suppose Cid was still asleep. Unlike normal, I took to waking up rather quickly this time. I stretched and sat up, and pushed my blanket away from me. The clock on the wall read ten o'clock in the morning. I change my mind about the whole stars thing – it was getting harder and harder to keep up with time when there was no sun.

"I hope so." I yawned.

I wasn't my normal self – I was actually quite a bit more cheerful, which was odd and normally it would have bugged me…but that didn't seem to phase me. Something _was_ different, but I couldn't quite make it out. I don't believe it was the fact that Vincent had a half smile with a smug expression on his face, no…then, I looked down at my shirt. I blinked. Between the heartless attacks, the rough sleeping, and the passing out in the middle of the street I needed to change my now rather hobo looking, worn out black t-shirt.

I sighed, and looked at Vincent – who _surprisingly_ wasn't there. I shook my head at this. It didn't take me a long time to figure out that he has a way is disappearing. "Hey, Vincent, might you have a change of clothes for me?" I whispered this quite sarcastically to myself. "_No_? Oh, that's fine. I'll go and buy a decent change of clothes, then." That was even more sarcastically.

I stood up and stretched again. _You aren't still scared, aren't you?_

"I'm going out." I called out to Vincent, who I could now tell was in the other room. He simply nodded in response.

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It took a little while before I picked a suitable shop to get clothes from; Trinity Town was astonishingly scarce on shops of any kind – much less clothing shops. I didn't understand that, actually; you would think a town of decent size, such as Trinity Town, would have a decent amount of shops or at least a nice place to get some clothes. I guess "beggars can't be choosers".

I ended up with a rather nice new dark blue t-shirt and a nice, dark pair of blue jeans. There was something I had been missing, and I got that, too – gloves. They were black leather fingerless gloves, too. If I was going to be using my keyblade again, then I needed them rather badly. I can remember having to wrap my right hand a few years back because of my Way to Dawn rubbing it raw. To my surprise, I also got a new pair of simple black and dark blue sneakers; my old shoes were worn.

I looked in a mirror, and almost didn't recognize myself. I was growing up, that's for sure. I know it sounds crazy, but I'm not one for paying that great attention to detail; especially when it comes to my own looks. My hair had grown, too – to about two inches past my shoulder. Actually, I think I liked it longer. There was only one thing that bothered me – I was a little pale.

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I walked back into the small two bedroom house. For the first time, I noticed how small it truly was. The room I had slept in was the smallest – the "guest" room I believe it was called. The living room, where I was now, was the largest room, but collided with the kitchen. It looked more like what you would expect a dorm room to, rather than an actual house that a thirty year old man lived in.

"I'm back." I announced to what I thought was nothing but the air.

_You really are still scared._ I was going to a world I didn't know at all; do I not have a _right_ to be scared? I wanted to get rid of that damn voice in my head right then more than ever. I remembered what I hated the most about this before, and it was the simple fact that he knew me all too well. Normally, I didn't have a problem tricking people into believing I was okay when I said I was, but he can actually _read my mind_ the whole time I state that lie.

Cid walked in the living room from some other part of the small house. "Vincent said you'd walked out."

I nodded. I looked at the digital clock on the stove in the kitchen that was, again, too close to the living room; it read twelve o'clock. "Is it time to get out of here yet?"

Cid gave me another one of his annoyingly happy looks. I would have probably not admitted it at the time, but they reminded me of Sora a little. "Yep; actually, you came just in time, kid. You're gonna love Highwind."

"Highwind?" I raised an eyebrow at the name.

"It's the name of my ship, kid." With that little bit of conversation, I was again out the door.

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**A/N**: This chapter is dedicated to my close friend from Texas. I'll just call her the Messenger, but that doesn't mean the song I used applies. Lol. : ) She remains to be here for me, no matter how annoying I get or how many times I call her when she says I shouldn't. She's even my beta reader…how cool is that? And, yes – I know I'm over stepping my sappy bounds here, but what the heck. : )

Don't bother telling me that Riku should have remembered that he named the raft on Destiny Islands Highwind, too, because I already remember that. I couldn't think of a better name. Also, I don't think I meant to, but maybe Riku was a tad off character with the whole buying new clothes thing. It didn't really matter much to me, though – after all, he had to change some, right? This is how I get this wonderful story started : ) I'm actually rather proud of myself for getting this far in a fic this fast; I've never done that before.

As always, please **read** and **review**. I would be forever in your dept if you would! ;-;


	4. Chapter Three: Motion Sickness

**The Story Isn't Over**

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**Disclaimer**: No, I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I probably never will, but I _do_ hope to be a part of it someday. Well, get to reading and I'll get to writing. Really, don't read the disclaimer anymore! Can we say waste of time?

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**Chapter Three: Motion Sickness**

_Riku's Point of View_

**A**s I followed Cid down the busy streets of Trinity Town to the east port where Highwind was, I noticed a symbol drawn on the ground I hadn't seen for a long time; is was years, actually. It was a simple character there on the concrete – a black trinity. I had seen blue, green, red, and even white…but never black. I've never activated one before, but I did know that the colors represented different abilities the trinity could do. I know that white, for example, gave you treasures; I had seen Sora use that one with Donald and Goofy before. I wonder was a black trinity could do…

_Don't worry. You'll find out soon enough._ I wasn't going to deliberate that.

**-----**

It didn't take long before…

"Are we there yet?" Believe it or not, I truly was asking that question. As childish as it sounded, the question was because I was sick – motion sick, mind you. My stomach was not agreeing with the ride at all. You would think after an hour of travel it would eventually cure itself.

_I forgot about your motion sickness, Riku._ I sighed at that straightforward statement; I really wasn't found of it at all. It wasn't fair that everyone else could ride in a ship just fine, with the exception me and only me. I suppose it made since, though. After all, it _is_ kind of predictable. I have lived without travel for so long; it seems only natural that my body would have a not-so-pleasant reaction to it.

"Relax." Vincent said in that deep voice, all the while he was sitting leisurely in the leather set to the right of mine. What Vincent was asking of me was nearly impossible to do. My stomach growled at me at the slightest movement, and that made it quite boring for me. I looked up at Cid who was in front of us driving for some sign of relief, but there was none.

"I don't know the meaning of the word," I replied after a moment.

"Well, you better learn it," Cid spoke, evidently hearing me, "because it's going to be awhile before we get to the Planet."

I sighed. It took me about an hour before I finally decided to close my eyes. In the drowsy moments before I finally fell into sleep, I thought about something. Did their "Planet" not have a name? I knew that all the worlds that I had even been to had one: Traverse Town, Twilight Town, Trinity Town, and Destiny Islands…It just seemed odd that this world should be any different than the others.

During my sleep, as far as I could tell, I did not dream. In fact, it was a rather disturbingly peaceful sleep, despite the motion sickness and the voice in my head that would have loved to know otherwise. Even so, there was one little troubling thought that I had tried to ignore and it now reoccurred in my mind even in sleep, much to my distaste. What if I _didn't_ make it back to the islands? It had been so long since I had to worry about the dangers of leaving home that they come quite more naturally than they should have.

I feel into an even deeper sleep as we got closer and closer to our destination. I became so tranquil that I essentially started to dream of home and of the last my last adventure. I silently wondered if Sora has found Donald and Goofy again and was out looking for me and Kairi, the same way I was looking for them. If there was one thing I knew it was that I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

I wasn't going to let anything distract me from my newly founded quest; I was going to find them…and without the help of darkness this time. I suppose that made me smile in my sleep, which was an unusual thing for me. But, I was happy there was some kind of hope, even if it was an odd sort of thing. There was no reason for me to fear the future.

-----

I felt a tap at my shoulder. I would have just ignored it, but another, harder tap came after the first. I gave a sigh and swatted at the hand that tapped my shoulder, but it didn't help any; actually, I don't even think I hit that hand. I sighed louder and swatted even harder after I felt another tap, but it still didn't help (again, I don't think I hit that damn hand). Finally, I gave up.

"What _do_ you _want_?" I was so comfortable, and someone actually wanted to wake me up so I could get motion sick again; I hope this person doesn't even _think_ about getting mad at me for yelling.

"I want you to wake up," an unfamiliar female voice spoke. "We'll be there in an hour."

Shortly after the voice rang out, I opened my eyes. I noted the angry expression that the girl had before anything else. She wore a tight dark blue shirt with black cargo jeans. Her eyes were a scornful brown, and her strait hair - that reached her waist - was just a shade off the same color. Other than that mean expression on her face, she was nothing special as far as I could tell; well, she was short -four foot ten, maybe- but tiny around the waistline.

I did my best to give an equally mean expression back; she turned away finally. "Fine," I spoke, watching her leave.

_Who is she? _Amazingly enough, I wondered the same thing.

-----

**A/N**: I'm so sorry about the late updates, everyone. I've been really, really busy and exams are coming up in school! I'll catch a break next week for sure, because the infamous Spring Break is on its way! I'm just really sad because I have math tomorrow and I have ZERO idea about how to pass that test. RAWR!

And, yes, I know…it's a short chapter. I didn't wanna introduce the new character too in-depth and/or the new world just yet. Please forgive me.

As always, please read and review. I really need reviews.


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